


For pick-me-ups and fall-aparts

by MaraSenpai1997



Series: 10 Solangelo Kisses [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Childhood Friends, Coming Out, Fluff, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Supportive friend, There is no plot, bros, i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 13:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13765143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaraSenpai1997/pseuds/MaraSenpai1997
Summary: "And they were roommates.""They were roommates."Will realises college brings more to the table than just more responsibilities. An unexpected sexual crisis that isn't really a crisis, a crush on his best friend and roommate who followed you to New York for another guy and supportive friends whose support isn't appreciated.





	For pick-me-ups and fall-aparts

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a small one-shot. A small one-shot that turned into this monster. Hence why the plot is pretty messy and there are most likely plotholes. But hey, it's still sweet I suppose. This is based on a prompt:  
> Unbreakable Kiss - The type of kiss that really shouldn’t be happening, it’s a mistake, but you just can’t find yourself able to pull away. [ Source](http://prettyboymaximoff.co.vu/post/153391610561/types-of-kisses-prompts)

Will was adopted. He had no recalling of what it was like to be adopted – he had been three according to his mother. It felt as if he had been part of this family his whole life. His two older brothers Lee and Michael had been adopted before him and were a part of his life from the beginning. Austin and Kayla came a bit later, but Will still loved them as much as he loved his brothers. They were his family, and the only constant presence in his life, no matter what happened.

 

That was a lie – a lie Will only figured out in his last year of high school. Because his family, his parents and siblings, were always there, so Will almost had forgotten that _he_ was always there, even before his younger siblings younger the household.

 

Nico di Angelo lived next door to Will. He was a little bit younger than Will, but that never deterred him from becoming friends. And they were friends from the first time they met. And like his family, Nico never moved out of his life – it was just something he never realised.

 

It had been Lou Ellen who had pointed it out. She told him that, for starters, Will spend almost every weekend with Nico. She and Cecil were his school friends, but Nico was his out-of-school friend. Second to that, while he, Lou Ellen and Cecil met somewhere in primary school, he and Nico knew each other as long as they can remember. And most importantly, there was only _one_ other kid in their year that was going to college in _New York_ of all places. Nico. It was even mentioned that Nico was going to the same college as Will, to study English Literature. Which wouldn’t have been odd if there weren’t closer-by colleges who offered the same course, and Nico wasn’t on a scholarship like Will was. Nico’s parents willingly paid for college and were _able_ to pay for it.

 

His reaction had been a fine mix of emotions. Surprise, warmth, a little bit of hurt, and acceptance. Surprise because he wasn’t expecting it, warmth because he wasn’t alone, a _friend_ would go with him to New York. The hurt followed after Will had asked why Nico went to New York. Percy Jackson, _of course_. Nico’s crush, or more likely the love of his life considering the lengths he went through to even _see_ him. The issue was that while Nico was gay, Percy was straight and foremost, in a long-lasting relationship with someone. Will had been quietly fuming after finding out, feeling slightly betrayed. They had been friends for as long as he remembered, and Nico didn’t even mention that it was nice they would go to the same school. It was just Percy Jackson that got him motivated. But in the end, Will buried his feelings and decided that Nico still was his friend – his _best_ friend and that was enough.

 

It was enough until the first year of college, in which they played a ‘mature’ game called ‘truth or dare’ at a party and Will realised he was gay. He had kissed girls before, girls who had been _sober_. The kisses had been nice, but nothing more than that. So, a kiss with a drunk guy, considering you’re a straight man, should be uncomfortable. It wasn’t. It had been the best kiss Will had. Yes, it had been sloppy, and a little bit gross, but kissing a bloke felt right in a way that kissing a girl didn’t. So, he turned out to be gay. Which was fine, he wasn’t the only gay person he knew, but realising that he was gay brought him a new perspective on his life. And a new perspective on his feelings for Nico. Turned out he had been crushing on Nico while not even realising he was gay, which was all just great. Explains the jealousy he held for Percy though.

 

~*~

 

“I need to tell you something,” Will greeted Lou Ellen.

 

It wasn’t exactly the proper greeting for someone you hadn’t seen in months, and Lou Ellen’s annoyed reaction only confirmed his thoughts. But the words were spoken, and this was way more important than catching up. Catching up could be done on the trip back home. This subject, however, was a matter of great importance.

 

“Happy Holidays to you too,” Lou Ellen returned blandly. “What got you so winded up that you forget your manners?”

 

Licking his chapped lips, Will dragged Lou Ellen along to a quieter place, as far as that was possible on an airport.

 

“I’m gay,” he confessed. “And I have a crush on my roommate, and it’s awkward, and I don’t know what to do.”

 

He had expected Lou Ellen to be surprised, maybe even a little shocked, but she was offering him a look that told him that she was expecting something bigger, more _scandalising_. Because coming out wasn’t that shocking anymore nowadays, apparently.

 

“You aren’t going to ask?” Will asked carefully.

 

Rolling her eyes, Lou Ellen shook her head like a disappointed mum. “Oh poor William, I already _knew_. Or at least I had a hunch you were gay, especially for Nico di Angelo. It has been a while since I saw a guy pine this hard.”

 

“And you couldn’t have told me?”

 

Lou Ellen shrugged. “I expected you to figure it out sooner or later.”

 

“You’re a terrible friend,” Will said, trying to glare. The key word was _trying_.

 

“I would have been a terrible friend if I asked you if you had confessed to Nico already,” Lou Ellen pointed out nonchalantly. “By the way, did you?”

 

“No!”

 

“Why not?”

 

Why not? It took Will a few seconds to find his words, because why not? What could go wrong?

 

“Because he’s my best friend. Because he’s my roommate and a _great_ roommate. He also still likes Percy, he constantly daydreams when he thinks I’m not looking – there is always a look of longing on his face when he’s daydreaming. “

 

Lou Ellen smirked, which wasn’t the reaction Will was looking for. “And when was the last time you have seen him openly stare at Percy with that longing look?” she asked, her voice sugar-sweet.

 

“Never,” admitted Will. “But you’re stupid to do it out in the open. He often daydreams, and there is this dreamy expression on his face that says everything. I swear, if I check his notebook, I will find Percy’s name written all over it.”

 

~*~

 

Coming out to Nico had been... unnecessarily nerve-wrecking. Years ago, Nico had been the one to come out to him, and that had been worse. He had been in a terrible mindset, he didn’t know what to do with his crush on Percy Jackson, and he feared that his parents would kick him out of the house because he was gay. The last thing never happened – his parents were very supportive and very loving, but as a teenager, it wasn’t unusual that your relationship with your parents was a bit stiff and strained. But nonetheless, Will hadn’t been looking forward to returning to college, especially with his promise to both Lou Ellen and Cecil in mind. _Tell him how you feel, or at least come out to him._

 

~*~

 

“Hey, do you have a minute?” Will asked, wrapping his towel around his neck, hoping to catch the water his hair held instead of soaking the floor.

 

When Nico looked up and grew a little flustered, Will realised that he maybe should have wait till he had gotten dressed. Usually, he would get dressed directly after showering, but he had forgotten his shirt. It wasn’t unusual to see half-naked men walking around the dormitories, but Will was a bit self-conscious about his flab. Eating unhealthy and not exercising a lot wasn’t good on his body.

 

“Sure,” Nico said, voice a little tight as he locked his laptop. “What’s up?”

 

Sitting down on his own bed, Will swallowed away the nerves and confessed. “It turns out I’m gay,” he said carefully. “And I feel like you deserved to know. I was the first one you came out to, and while you aren’t the first one I come out to, you might be the only one who didn’t know beforehand.”

 

Nico’s face was impassive. It was unnerving the first few times, but Will had learned that Nico liked to be guarded with his emotions. If he wanted to show them, he would. The last thing that would happen to Nico was that he accidentally let emotions slip (that was a lie, Will totally caught him crying over The Lion King).

 

“I’m confused,” Nico admitted, eyebrows pinched together to emphasise his words. “Other people knew it before you?”

 

Will smiled sheepishly.

 

“It turns out my family knew it before me, or at least had a hunch,” Will shrugged. “And when I told Cecil and Lou Ellen that I was gay, they were surprised that I only just realised it.”

 

Pausing, Will focussed his gaze on his bare feet, feeling less exposed, _venerable_ that way. Because Nico could read emotions scarily well. Sometimes Will thought Nico could actually read his mind, but that was absurd. They weren’t mutants – he hoped. He would make a terrible superhero. 

 

The soft laughter that came from Nico set Will’s face on fire, pushed the accelerator of Will’s heart and caused him to look up involuntary. He was such a sucker for Nico’s laugh.

 

“Well, to reassure you, I didn’t know,” Nico said, a faint smile gracing his lips. “And I don’t mind if that’s what you’re worried about. I mean, I was the first gay one – considering you don’t mind sharing a room with me, I find it highly hypocritical for me to say that I’m suddenly uncomfortable.”

 

“So you don’t mind?”

 

A few emotions flickered in Nico’s eyes, but before Will could catch any of them, Nico had taken on faint aloofness.

 

“No way you’re getting rid of me that easily, Solace,” Nico teased. “You actually _clean_ your side of the room, and we have enough emergency food stocked up that we could survive in this room for at least a week.”

 

Will snorted. “As long as our neighbours don’t try to raid our stock, we’ll be fine.”

 

“Leo is afraid of me, remember?” Nico said gleefully. “He wouldn’t dare to enter this room without permission.”

 

Trying not to look _too_ fond, Will offered Nico a bright smile. _The same as usual_ , his mind supplied, _no reason to act differently now_. “Yeah, but I _like_ Leo and Jason, and Jason isn’t afraid of you.”

 

Nico rolled his shoulder as a challenge, cocking his head a little. “I suppose I should try harder to scare him.”

 

~*~

 

Lou Ellen wasn’t exactly happy with the fact that Will only came out the closet. He argued that there was no reason for him to actually confess that he held feelings for Nico. After all, there were more gay men out there, and it was silly to settle down for the first one he had a crush on. Most first relationships didn’t work out, so Will wasn’t rushing to make Nico his first boyfriend. (His mind, being the traitor it was, argued that the reason he waited was that if Nico was his second or third boyfriend, the chance was more likely that he was the real deal.)

 

And, to pretty much everyone’s surprise, included Will’s, he got a boyfriend a months later. He wasn’t in love with the guy, not at all, but he seemed kind and Will had a hard time saying no. Especially since the guy had asked him out on Valentine’s day. Nico had called him weak, and slightly pathetic, and Will couldn’t really disagree.

 

However, the relationship wasn’t long-lasting. Will thought his back-then boyfriend was nice, and not bad looking, but there wasn’t a click between them. It didn’t help that he spend a lot of his free time with Nico because Nico was his roommate and best friend. His boyfriend wasn’t exactly happy about that, and the break-up had been kinda messy. His words were still etched into Will’s mind, making Will feel worse for accepting the request in the first place.

 

_“Listen, Will, you’re a great guy, but I won’t date a guy who is in love with someone else, and you clearly like your roommate more than you like me. Which is fine, your roommate is hot, and I get it, but I don’t like being your plan b.”_

 

However, the odd thing was that nobody seemed to care that Will had broken up with his boyfriend. Nico actually looked chipper, Lou Ellen hadn’t been surprised, and Cecil had laughed his ass off, till Lou Ellen had kindly pointed out that Will at least _had_ a boyfriend, Cecil had been single his whole life. It hurt a little because it sounded like that no matter who Will dated, as long as it wasn’t Nico, they weren’t the right guy for him. Maybe he would fall out of love with Nico. It was a plausible idea, considering Nico didn’t return his feelings. No, not just returning Will’s feeling, he liked someone else. The whole reason he was in New York in the first place.

 

~*~

 

“You look awfully chipper,” Percy said as he tossed a three of Spades on the card-pile. “Who died?”

 

Rolling his eyes at Percy, Nico tossed his a seven and eight of Spades on the pile, successfully skipping an annoyed looking Leo.

 

“Will broke up with his boyfriend,” he said nonchalantly as Annabeth, Percy’s girlfriend, tossed an eight of Hearts on the pile, successfully skipping Jason. “Didn’t like him that much.”

 

Jason let out a deep sigh, disappointment only Jason could muster. It was like the disappointed mother he never had – a disappointed mother who lived next door of him and _Will_.

 

“You only didn’t like him because you have an _ancient_ crush on Solace,” Jason said as Percy added a two of Hearts to the pile. “So, when are you going to confess?”

 

Grumbling under his breath, Nico added a two of Clubs to the pile. Leo added a two of Spades and Annabeth a Joker, which forced Jason to draw eleven cards from the other pile – the neatly ordered pile. It was a nice dose of karma, in Nico’s opinion.

 

“I do not have a crush on Will,” Nico hissed, glaring daggers at Jason. “How many times do I have to say that?”

 

That was obviously the wrong question, as Percy started to grin. There was a dangerous twinkle in his eyes that made Nico want to get up and run away. Befriending Percy had been a terrible idea.

 

“Your crush is so obvious, I mean, _I_ even noticed it,”an eight of Diamonds was tossed on the pile, successfully skipping Nico. “You _followed_ him to New York.”

 

Running away was a brilliant idea.

 

“So what if I did?” Nico said, crossing his arms and straight up _glowered_ at Percy. “He doesn’t know, he never has to know that he’s basically my world – that I wouldn’t know what to do without him. That I never had a crush on you, but just used it as an excuse. Because I wanted to come out to him, he _is_ my best friend, but I didn’t want to admit I had a crush on him. Now he still thinks I went to New York because I have a hopeless crush on you, which is ridiculous.”

 

Percy clutched his shirt in faked pain. “I thought the love you held for me was real.”

 

Several groans echoed through the small room. “Jason, hit him for me, please,” Annabeth asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

 

Jason did hit Percy, though it was barely a tick on the back of his head. Jason was way too kind.

 

“I’m not the love expert here,” Leo pipped in, tossing his own four of Diamonds on the pile. “But why go as far to lie about it? What does it accomplish?”

 

Kicking Leo, Nico feverishly tried to find a way out of this conversation. But Nico only had weak arguments. “Because he _is_ my best friend,” Nico admitted. “He was my first friend, and he always had been there for me and still is. He could have left me behind a long time ago, because who wants to hang out with that weird kid? Will apparently,” Nico let himself smile a little. “He went to prom with me, because I didn’t have a date. He could have had _everyone_ and yet–”

 

“We get it,” Leo said, looking slightly nauseated. “I know you’re grossly in love with him. That’s why I don’t understand you. You have the chance to ask out your dream man, and you don’t do it. What if he falls in love with someone else because you are interested in Percy. Or what if he falls out of love with you, not because there is someone else, but because he thinks it’s hopeless, that he can never compare to Percy?”

 

Nico hiked up his knees and buried his face into the soft fabric of his sweats. Leo’s reasoning was fair, but also hopeful. Because it indicated that Will liked him, and Nico didn’t want to be that hopeful. For years, Nico thought he had a one-sided crush on a straight guy. He had made peace with it because he could write it off as fruitless longing. You couldn’t magically turn a straight person gay or bisexual. But now Will came out as gay, it was scarier. Because Nico had a chance, but with that chance also came the risk of rejection. He could no longer hide behind the excuse that Will was straight, and there was no reason for him to use the ‘he’s my best friend, _my_ world’ excuse because you want your partner to be that. You want them to be the centre of your universe, to be your best friend who also turned out to be the love of your life.

 

“Honestly, I’m afraid. Afraid of the ‘no’, afraid of losing the best friend I ever had, I still have,” Nico hated how everyone was watching him with rap attention as if his words would be life-changing, earth-shattering. They weren’t – Nico was horrible at expressive himself, and words were a big part of that. “I want to spend the rest of my life with my best friend,” Nico said. “And if that means we’ll never get to the loving phase, that’s fine. After all, going from best friends to lovers is only a small step, a step not worth risking.”

 

~*~

 

Will was well known for being great at making plans and sticking to it. A schedule for studying. Done. A birthday present for a sibling? The world must end for it to not happen. His plans rarely failed, and if they did, it was because of a factor he hadn’t taken into account beforehand. Unexpected circumstances. This is why his plan shouldn’t have failed, there weren’t unexpected circumstances, every factor was broadly explored while Will had been plannin. So, there should be no failure, yet there was.

 

It turned out that Will hadn’t taken one vital thing into this calculations, and that was his own traitorous heart. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop loving Nico. Because Nico wasn’t a summer fling or just a roommate he got assigned at the beginning of the year. Nico was his best friend, the person he was the closest to. Even his relationship with his parents, with his siblings, couldn’t compare to it, and it was what made it impossible to fall out of love with Nico, or even fall in love with someone else. Because a long time ago he had offered Nico his heart with even realising it.

 

It sucked. There was no better way to describe it. However, Nico’s odd behaviour wasn’t helping either. A few weeks after Will had called it quits with his boyfriend, or actually, his boyfriend calling quits, Nico started to behave differently. He was more guarded around Will, often glancing at him with an odd expression. He also spends a lot of time with Jason and to an extent Leo, who lived in the room next to them.

 

Maybe Nico had a crush on Jason instead of Percy. It at least gave Will more hope that Nico also liked blonds. On the other hand, Percy and Jason were two handsome blokes that got most women, and some men, swooning. Will was average. He wasn’t athletic, he had flab, and his acne was a constant reminder that he stressed too much, or he ate unhealthily. Or, Will didn’t like to think about it, what if Nico had found out Will had a crush on him? That would be a nightmare come true, especially if Nico didn’t return his feelings. Considering that this was almost a fact, Will resigned himself to the fact that when the next year started, he would have a new roommate. You don’t want to live with some creepy guy who likes you romantically.

 

But, aside from the fact that Will was known to be a good planner, he was also known for his mothering nature. And Nico’s odd behaviour set off plenty alarms inside his head, but it wasn’t enough for Will’s instincts to kick in. That was ‘till Will realised that there was more going on. Nico drank more wine in a week than he usually consumed in months, he slept bad, he was losing weight (Will accidentally walked on him getting dressed, he needed a long shower after that), he didn’t eat while there was food at his disposal, the reasoning for losing weight most likely. It was if someone had flicked a switch and Nico was paying for it.

 

Maybe Nico didn’t return his feelings, maybe Nico didn’t even know that Will had a crush on him. Maybe Nico was still madly in love with Percy, or maybe he found a new interest in Jason. There were many ‘maybe’s’, but there was one thing Will didn’t have to question. Nico was his best friend, and if he didn’t fit into Nico’s storyline as the romantic interest, he at least could be the supportive best friend. After all, everyone needed someone to look after their back.

 

~*~

 

Will felt like his mum, but he wasn’t taking the risk. Nico would return from an evening class soon, and usually, Will would be asleep. And the morning after Nico would be gone before Will’s alarm would go off, and looking at Nico’s behaviour as of lately, he would be gone before Will had finished his afternoon classes. After all, tomorrow was the last day before the Spring holiday, and Nico had offhandedly mentioned he would return home for the holiday. This was the last moment they could speak before the holiday, and Will wanted to get it over and done. So, he had grabbed his chair and sat down facing the door, waiting in the dark until Nico would quietly open the room and fall into bed.

 

At eleven-thirty, the lock clicked softly, and Nico slipped into the room, holding his shoes in his hand.

 

Seeking out Nico’s gaze, he saw his best friend freeze on the spot the moment their eyes met. Nico was surprised, but there was also a faint trace of panic lingering in his facial expression.

 

“Sit,” Will said, gesturing to Nico’s bed. “Please.”

 

Unfreezing, Nico placed his shoes next to the door. He flicked on the light and turned off the flashlight of his phone before he slowly and reluctantly moved towards his bed, sitting on the end.

 

“Might I know what’s going on?” Nico asked voice lowered to a whisper. “It’s rather late, and I have to get up early tomorrow.”

 

Digging his teeth into his bottom lip, Will swirled around his chair till he faced Nico.

 

“An intervention sounds cheesy, but let’s call it that,” Will said. “This is an intervention because I’m worried about you.”

 

Nico raised an eyebrow in mockery. “You sound like my dad. What is it? Are you worried I will fail my tests?”

 

“No. I’m worried about _you_ , not your grades,” Will let his eyes flicker to Nico’s slightly gaunt face, the greyish glow to his skin, the tiredness that his body held. Tiredness that had nothing to do with the time of the day – it was tiredness build over the course of days, weeks. “What’s going on?”

 

Will’s words visibly caught Nico by surprise, as said emotion flickered over his tired features. “I’m fine, just tired.”

 

“Please, you’ve lost weight, you sleep terrible, and you avoid me like the plague – what’s wrong,” suppressing his feelings, Will added the words he only dared to _think_. “What did I do wrong.”

 

“You noticed, huh?” Nico whispered, wrapping his arms around his midriff. “It’s nothing, just stress. It has nothing to do with you.”

 

This was going to be a long night. Why did Nico have to be this stubborn?

 

“Is it Percy?” Will asked.

 

Nico flinched.

 

“Or Jason,” Will continued. “I mean, you spend an awful lot of time with him lately,” he added icily

 

Will knew that it was mean, bringing up Jason. Especially since Nico was _finally_ getting friends. But he knew that Nico would do his best to avoid the topic altogether. The moment Will stopped pushing, _trying_ , Nico would come out victorious.

 

“What does it mean to you?” Nico snapped, eyes narrowed and body-language defensive. “Are you worried that I will replace you with someone else.”

 

“Do you think I care about you making new friends? Because, news flash, I’m _happy_ you’re making friends,” Will hated how aggressive he sounded. He should have done this in the morning when they weren’t tired. “But I don’t want you to fall in love with another straight guy. You loving Percy broke my heart because you were so _sad_.”

 

It was a small miracle that Nico was still sitting on his bed. He was fuming, and his hands turned white by how tight his grip was on the frame, but he hadn’t moved an inch. “Don’t bring Percy up into this, he has nothing to do with it.”

 

“He doesn’t? You went to _New York_ to go to the same school as him,” Will said, voice shaking with emotions. “And you have been worse for wear ever since you have been spending more time with him, even accompanied by others. How long will you keep on loving him?”

 

Nico hissed, a sound that reminded Will of his neighbour’s cat.

 

“What does it mean to you?” Nico repeated. “Why do you care so much about my love life?”

 

“Because you’re my best friends! I care about your well-being _and_ happiness, and you haven’t been doing well, and it worries me.”

 

Nico took his sweet time to answer. “Cecil and Lou Ellen are also your best friends, and you don’t act around them like this. So, once again, and answer honestly,” Nico was trying to kill Will with a single glare. He would have been a great Medusa, as Will wanted to nothing else but look away. “What. Does. It. Mean. To. You?”

 

What does it mean to him? What does Nico’s health, _happiness_ , mean to him? And why would he care? He cared because Nico was his best friend. He would offer Lou Ellen and Cecil someone to talk to, so why didn’t he do the same with Nico. Mention his worries and tell him that he always can talk to Will if he feels like it? Why? What made Nico different from Lou Ellen and Cecil?

 

The answer was easy. Cecil and Lou Ellen were his best friends, and so was Nico. But Nico wasn’t _just_ his best friend. Nico was his childhood friend, the first friend he ever made. He was also the guy Will was crushing on. It was that he _loved_ Nico that he cared so much. He shared the title as best friend, but he was the only one who held Will’s heart in his hands.

 

Getting up in a hurry, Will flinched a little as the chair slammed into the wall. Nico immediately reacted, getting up himself and straightening his back to make himself look taller.

 

Stepping close to Nico, Will crowded his personal space, slightly looming over him. Nico looked up, iris’ were almost pitch black, lips pressed together in a thin line.

 

“Do you really want to know why?” Will asked loudly.

 

Holding his head up high, Nico didn’t show any hesitation or worry. He was expecting Will to fail, to give him a terrible reason _why_ Will cared so much.

 

Will had planned to confess, sort of. Keeping it as vague as possible in the hopes that Nico wouldn’t catch on. He had this all planned out in his brain, his speech was ready, his mind was even adding a few physical cues he could give, like faint touches, a relaxed posture, maybe a few timid smile. On paper, it would most likely work, but there were two issues. One, Will couldn’t flirt to save his life, and two, the mind and the heart didn’t always agree. And this moment was one of those unfortunate moments that his heart won over.

 

Tipping Nico’s head back, a ‘what’ barely had escaped Nico’s lips before Will captured them in a kiss.

 

The first few seconds were great. Will felt his heart pound wildly, his skin was tingly, a little bit sweaty, but it all felt right. Then his brain had finished rebooting and slammed the big red panic button.

 

He was _kissing_ Nico di Angelo. He was kissing his best friend, his _crush_ and the one guy he wasn’t supposed to kiss. Because one kiss could bring so much harm. It was enough to make Will’s world crumble away around him, leaving large pieces of his life missing because Nico was no longer with him. Kissing anyone, even _Percy,_ would have done less harm than this. He shouldn’t be kissing Nico, and his mind was screaming to pull away, but he couldn’t do anything but keep a steady press of lips against lips. Because his mind was screaming no, but his heart was weeping with joy.

 

With his mind working in overdrive, Will didn’t notice the hands in his hair, or the pair of previously motionless lips kissing back. All he could think that this shouldn’t be happening, at all. He already had been losing Nico slowly and steadily, and now he had made an abrupt end to it all. Their friendship, which had lasted for over a decade, was ruined by Will’s stupid crush.

 

His mind came to a sudden halt when a cold hand had crept underneath his shirt, pushing him closer to Nico. Stumbling a little, Will felt himself being pushed flush against Nico before tipping over. His stomach _wooshed_ as he fell forward, landing not so gently on top of Nico, on Nico’s bed.

 

It must have hurt for Nico, who was now squashed underneath Will’s weight. In addition to that, he just had gotten the air knocked out of him by the same person who was squashing him. Yet, aside from a brief but sudden gasp, Nico didn’t react at all.

 

As they were now on eye-level, Will took in Nico’s face. Closed eyes, but not strained, faint freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose that Will never noticed before. His lashes cast long shadows over his face. Will’s heart missed several beats as he took in the flush of red on Nico’s cheeks, ears and neck, the cherry-red lips that were slightly swollen. The black hair that messily was spread out on the grey sheets.

 

His mind was telling him that this was most likely a wet dream when Nico’s eyes fluttered open. Determination sparked in his brown eyes before a hand cupped his cheek and pulled him down, lips clumsily mashing together.

 

Will didn’t like to give his conscious credits, but this must be a wet dream. Because Nico would never be interested in kissing Will, and especially this long. This wasn’t a pity kiss, This was reciprocal, mutual,  something both parties wanted. So, unless either Nico was heavily intoxicated or Lou Ellen had paid him, this was a wet dream. And Will liked this wet dream a lot, though he could have done it without the feelings. Wet dreams were supposed to be sexy, confusing, but sexy. But Will wasn’t confused, and this wasn’t sexy – it had too many emotions and too little skin for a wet dream.

 

Finally returning the kiss, Will could imagine the sigh of content vibrating low in Nico’s throat, and there was a faint twitch in his muscles that Will could write off as Nico growing relaxed under his touch. Nipping Nico’s bottom lip, Will finally closed his eyes and let himself sink into the kiss.

 

~*~

 

Will woke up feeling well rested and disorientated at the same time. He had slept well, but the bed didn’t feel right. The pillow was too flat, the blanket smelled different, and he wasn’t lying in the centre of his bed. Instead, he was laying on the right, shoulder pushed against the wall.

 

Bracing himself against the harsh sunlight, Will slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times to get rid of his confusion. The room wasn’t flooded with light, which was odd. Nico always opened the curtains when he got up, saying that he preferred the natural sunlight over the artificial lights of the lamps. Considering that Will was a heavy sleeper and wouldn’t wake up because the room suddenly was flooded with light, he never had made a fuss about it.

 

Bored of the view of the ceiling, Will rolling onto his side to reach for his phone. He barely had reached out when his heart might as well have stopped beating altogether. Nico was laying next to him, _facing_ him, and Will was falling in love all over again.

 

Nico’s hair was sticking in every direction, including some of it sticking to his face. And his face – it was so soft. No harsh lines, no forced mask. Eyes soft, kind and filled with happiness, lips twisted in a small smile, some teeth peeking out between slightly parted lips.

 

“Morning,” Nico whispered, leaning forward and pressing his lips briefly against Will’s. “Took you long enough to wake up.”

 

It wasn’t a wet dream. _Oh_. Fuck.

 

“You’re okay?” worry and fear started to line Nico’s face. Will wanted to do everything to turn back time a minute, maybe two, everything to see Nico look absolutely content, happy, and maybe slightly in love. “Do you,” now Nico’s voice had picked up his worry. “Regret last night? Was it a mistake?”

 

Biting his bottom lip, maybe a little too hard as it hurt, Will shook his head. “I thought it was a dream,” Will admitted. “I thought it wasn’t real.”

 

“Because real you would never kiss me?”

 

“No,” Will hated how his voice shook. “I thought you would never kiss me.”

 

The surprise on Nico’s face was a welcome change. “Oh, you really thought that?”

 

Will nodded. “Yes, because you don’t like me, romantically,” Will closed his eyes, secretly hoping that it was still a dream. “I mean, you came to New York for Percy, and lately you have spent a lot of time with Jason–”

 

“I never came to New York for Percy.”

 

Snapping his eyes open, Will could only gape at a nervous looking Nico. “But you told me that.”

 

Nico snorted. “I _lied_. I–” hesitation flickering in his eyes. “I never liked Percy romantically, actually. I did think he was handsome, and he made me realise I was gay, but after a few months I found someone I was way more attracted to, who was more than just a pretty face to me.”

 

“What?”

 

While a nonsensical response, it was the only thing Will could come up with. It was hard to believe that Nico never liked Percy, considering how much he talked about Percy, about how beautiful his eyes were, how pretty his hair was, that his smiles lit up the entire room. That his freckles were absolutely precious despite the fact that Percy didn’t have freckles.

 

“You’re dense,” Nico said, but there was no bite behind his words. “I fell in love with you or at least started crushing on you. I ranted to you, _about_ you. And at first it was a crush, but as you were still straight at the time, I learned how to deal with it. At some point, you were my best friend who I thought was handsome, cute, funny – many things I didn’t want my traitorous brain to think. Then you had to come out of the closet, I got cold feet, my friends were too rational, and I started avoiding you because losing you as my best friend would be the worst thing ever and I could hardly imagine you like me. Not that avoiding you worked out, but it seemed like a better plan than confessing.”

 

Will wondered for a long moment if he had passed away and had turned into a ghost or a zombie. He couldn’t breathe, his heartbeat was quiet and moving seemed almost impossible. No wonder Lou Ellen was so confident he should confess because she _knew_. Which was fair, because while Nico rambled a lot about Percy – eh, himself – Will in return complained to Lou Ellen and Cecil that Nico’s crush on Percy was unhealthy. Unlike Will, they had added two and two together and realised that Nico was most likely not talking about Percy.

 

“I have flab,” Will blurted out, catching Nico off guard. “And I’m not physically fit, and I have acne. My taste in friends is terrible, and I can never say no – also I’m a nerd. I mean, you can do so much better than–”

 

“I like you,” Nico said, effectively cutting Will off. “I like you for who you are. I’m not expecting to date a Greek god, I’m expecting to date Will Solace, my best friend, the person who has been the biggest supporter in my entire life and the guy I’m head over heels for.”

 

“But the flab,” Will protested weakly.

 

“Even the flab,” Nico said slowly. “All of you, the good and the bad, because you were always there during my bad, and even now you’re still there, though your working methods are questionable. Do you kiss everyone you care about?”

 

Despite feeling flustered and slightly uncomfortable, Will flashed Nico a dopey grin. “Nah, only you,” he said, pressing a chaste kiss on Nico’s lips.

 

“Thank gods,” Nico said playfully. He looked a little flustered as well, which made Will happy. He wasn’t the only one nervous and new to this. “I already imagined you spontaneously kissing Lou Ellen on the lips, or worse, _Percy_.”

 

Will laughed awkwardly. Yes, Percy was pretty handsome, but he never had the desire to kiss him. Punch him, however, was something else. He should apologise to Percy for all the glares he had thrown his way.

 

“Lou Ellen is dating Miranda. I would be _killed_ if I tried to kiss her,” Will said, watching Nico’s eyes grow wide.

 

“Wait, you mean Miranda Gardiner?” Nico asked. “But didn’t they hate each other during high school?”

 

Will shrugged. “They are roommates, and apparently being roommates brings two people closer than they ever wanted to be.”

 

“Really?” Nico asked, a grin playing on his lips. “And how close is _too_ close, Will?”

 

Shuffling a little closer to Nico, Will grinned and stole a fleeting kiss. “I don’t know, Nico. Should we try?”


End file.
